Trojans Turn It Around on Down-Turned Bruins : College basketball: USC avenges 29-point loss, 85-79. UCLA is a .500 team in its last 10 games.

If USC was an underdog against UCLA Thursday night, the Trojans didn’t play like one as they soundly handed the No. 15 Bruins an 85-79 defeat at the Sports Arena.

With six players scoring in double figures, the Trojans outshot and outhustled UCLA to avenge a 29-point loss to the Bruins on Feb. 3 at Pauley Pavilion.

USC played like the more confident team in front of 9,677. Brandon Martin led the Trojans with 19 points, and Mark Boyd added 17 and six rebounds, keeping USC’s National Invitation Tournament hopes alive.

The Trojans, 14-11 overall and 7-9 in the Pacific 10 Conference, have won three of their last four games, including an overtime victory over California last Saturday.

UCLA (19-5, 12-4) has lost three of its last four games and five of its last 10.

Boyd becomes the first USC four-year starter to finish his career with a winning (5-3) record against UCLA.

“To come off a great win like we had against Cal and then to do it again, it just makes me feel great,” Boyd said. “We had to come out from the start and play with all kinds of intensity and emotion, and we did.”

UCLA, which began the season 14-0, looked like a troubled team against the Trojans. The Bruins’ frustration showed as Ed O’Bannon was ejected from the game for throwing a punch at Tremayne Anchrum, who also was ejected, in the final two minutes.

“To be honest, I really felt all week that we were going to win the game,” USC Coach George Raveling said. “The key thing was that we had to stop their transition game and make them play halfcourt and to just play hard.”

USC had many heroes. Anchrum made four of five three-pointers to finish with 12 points and seven rebounds; freshman Stais Boseman scored 10 points and had four steals, and freshman Jaha Wilson had five points in six key second-half minutes. Burt Harris scored 12 points and had a season-high 12 assists, and Lorenzo Orr scored eight of his 10 points in the final four minutes and finished with eight rebounds.

With backup seniors John Masdea and Damaine Powell in the starting lineup in their final college home game for USC, the first three minutes of the game were filled with turnovers and wild fouls. The Trojans gained the most from the sloppy play when UCLA point guard Tyus Edney picked up his third foul on a charge with 14:11 remaining in the half.

Instead of coming out of the game, Edney led a 6-0 UCLA run, with backup Cameron Dollar waiting to check into the game, as the Bruins took a 12-7 lead at the 12:45 mark. The Trojans then tied the score on five consecutive points by Martin, who scored 11 in the first half, before UCLA outscored USC, 8-1, to take a 20-12 lead.

That’s when the Trojans went to work. With Anchrum making three first-half three-pointers and Harris adding five points, USC outscored the Bruins, 26-11, over the final eight minutes of the half.

UCLA’s halfcourt offense struggled with Edney on the bench, as Charles O’Bannon and Kevin Dempsey took turns missing three-pointers and the Trojans dominating on the backboards. UCLA shot only 32.1% from the field as the Trojans outrebounded UCLA, 22-19, in taking a 39-31 halftime lead.

USC took its largest lead, 64-53, with 6:24 remaining in the game on a driving layup by Boyd. UCLA rallied thanks to several missed free throws and three turnovers by the Trojans to cut the lead to 79-75 with 1:02 remaining before USC clinched the game with free throws.

Edney led UCLA with 20 points. George Zidek and Ed O’Bannon had 17 each.

Before completing its Pac-10 schedule, UCLA will play Louisville Sunday in a nonconference game at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins, who defeated Louisville in their last meeting in the second round of the NCAA tournament in 1992, have defeated the Cardinals in 11 of their 16 games.

From there, the Bruins will play at Oregon State and Oregon. UCLA swept the Oregon schools in January by an average of 25 points at Pauley Pavilion.

With its NCAA tournament hopes long gone, USC can only hope for a second consecutive berth in the National Invitation Tournament. Last year, the Trojans advanced to the quarterfinals before losing at Minnesota, the eventual champion.

Turn for the Worse

With its loss to USC, UCLA dropped out of first place in the Pacific 10 standings for the first time this season. A look at the conference standings:

Team Conf. Overall W L W L Arizona 13 3 24 4 UCLA 12 4 19 5 California 11 4 20 6 Washington State 8 7 18 9 Stanford 8 7 15 9 Arizona State 8 8 13 12 USC 7 9 14 11 Oregon 5 10 9 15 Washington 3 12 5 19 Oregon State 2 13 6 18